TOK class 2/2
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We talked about chapters 3 and 4 in the excerpt from Man is the Measure.

First we talked about the nature of the information we get from our senses,
and how our perception of the world is completely shaped by the biological
limitations of our senses. We mentioned how different creatures have 
different senses and ranges of stimuli within those senses. We also talked
about ESP. We discussed whether it was possible that humans had other senses
that they were simply not aware of. People gave examples of experiences 
they have had or heard about that seemed like ESP. Then we talked about
possible explanations for these occurences. Did they occur by simple chance?
Or do people take in information subconciously, that they use in drawing
conclusions that only seem to come from ESP? Or is there something strange
going on in these occurences?

Then we talked about the phrase, "perception is sometimes down right
deceptive." Although we can trust our perception much of the time, certain
times it does not work. Because we are used to trusting our senses, in these
situations, we are truly deceived. 

Our visual system is discontinuous - we essentially take many snapshots of
the world. Yet, everything SEEMS continuous to us. Our brain fills in the
gaps. It does so based on assumptions it makes about the world, based on
experience.

We next talked about primary vs. secondary qualities in objects. Philosophers
spent time identifying and categorizing qualities of objects into these
groups. For example, adjectives such as hot and cold are merely relative and
based on our senses. However, other qualities such as shape are actual
qualities of the object in question, independent of our perception. However,
Abel states that science has shown all of the qualities mentioned to be
relative qualities. Thus, it is difficult to make distinctions. We then 
discussed whether or not, when people give descriptions of an object to
someone else, part of their description is objective fact, while the other
part is opinion. Even though everything is in part opinion, are there some
characteristics of objects that are less subjective than others?

Then we talked about how sight and using all of our senses is a two step
process. In particular, we first get the raw sensation, and then we must
interpret that sensation. In particular, there may a problem with the
interpretation part sometimes. We actually have to learn how to do it.
We briefly talked about the movie At First Sight.

Next, we talked about the selective nature of perception. We can not
take in absolutely everything in our environment. Rather, we must select
what we want to perceive in some sense. This selection accounts for
some differences in experiences.

Finally we talked about how beliefs and conventions influence our
perception. If we expect to see something, we see it, even though that's
not exactly what is really there. Also, once we learn certain rules, just
as how gravity works, we are completely surprised when we observe something
that seems to defy these rules. Babies, on the other hand, can not always
appreciate magic, because they do not have a solid concept of gravity yet.
(They develop it quickly, but they are NOT born with it.)